World of Warcraft - English (NA) Forums -> Server Shutdowns

Splosion

< Heavens Fire >

Kirin Tor

0. Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 05:47:30 AM PDT

This is really getting annoying. Two days in a row (9/1 & 9/2) for "scheduled maintenance"? Maybe I will go back to playing Guildwars for free online where I never had these issues! Does Blizz really care?? If I can't play a game to it's fullest, while paying for it, why should I have to pay full price?

Maor

< Dark Reign >

Thorium Brotherhood

1. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 05:49:37 AM PDT

If Blizzard didn't care, they wouldn't be doing maintenance.

"Verily, I did hurl and spin mine body against the earth, possessed by mirth." - Malkorix

Plavalaguna

< Fhloston Paradise >

Bloodhoof

2. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 05:50:28 AM PDT

Q u o t e:
This is really getting annoying. Two days in a row (9/1 & 9/2) for "scheduled maintenance"? Maybe I will go back to playing Guildwars for free online where I never had these issues! Does Blizz really care?? If I can't play a game to it's fullest, while paying for it, why should I have to pay full price?

When you quit and go back to Guild Wars there is a section for you to state why you left. Good luck!

[ Post edited by Plavalaguna ]

........./trailing mini strawberry bagels..... Damnedeliza: "Man....you guys are snarky."
http://www.officiallost.com

Splosion

< Heavens Fire >

Kirin Tor

3. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 05:52:47 AM PDT

I agree but I think they might find a more efficient way to take care of the problem.

Honig

< Casual Addiction >

Rexxar

4. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 05:53:53 AM PDT

Q u o t e:
This is really getting annoying. Two days in a row (9/1 & 9/2) for "scheduled maintenance"? Maybe I will go back to playing Guildwars for free online where I never had these issues! Does Blizz really care?? If I can't play a game to it's fullest, while paying for it, why should I have to pay full price?

Guild Wars has a lot fewer people playing. They do not have the same issues WoW does because they do not have the same kind of strain on instances that WoW has.

So far as this specifically:

Q u o t e:
If I can't play a game to it's fullest, while paying for it, why should I have to pay full price?

The downtime certain realms are currently going through has to do with Blizzard implementing a fix to the instance server issue.

The ironic thing about that is that there are folks complaining about lack of adequate instance servers who say the exact same thing you did!

They think they should get full play for full price, including instances on demand... you think you should have servers up on demand because you pay full price...

Neat, innit?

Splosion

< Heavens Fire >

Kirin Tor

5. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 05:56:18 AM PDT

Totally a Catch-22, agreed. Just frustrated!

Orlyia

Blizzard Poster

6. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 05:57:38 AM PDT

Q u o t e:
This is really getting annoying. Two days in a row (9/1 & 9/2) for "scheduled maintenance"? Maybe I will go back to playing Guildwars for free online where I never had these issues! Does Blizz really care?? If I can't play a game to it's fullest, while paying for it, why should I have to pay full price?

Full price figures in necessary downtime, Splosion. While I can truly appreciate the frustration players feel if their chosen realm isn't available, that's not what is promised. I do believe part of this frustration is in the misconception there is guaranteed uptime, there isn't. Nor is access to any particular realm, character or activity guaranteed.

The nature of MMOs in general require maintenance, fixes to software, hardware upgrades, etc. It's simply unavoidable. We never remove any realm from service unless it's absolutely necessary, and we never keep them offline any longer than is required to do the task at hand.

In cases of truly extensive issues it is not unknown for days to be added to accounts, but those are extraordinary and not required of us by contract. Those are also done across the board to the accounts that would have been affected.

Our goal is to keep you as happy as possible and your playtime as issue free as we can. To do that, it is sometimes a necessity to tinker under the hood in ways that cannot be done if the realms are online.

We do our best to not only put up Breaking News on the login screen, but put posts up in the Service Status Forum and we also mirror those here quite often in an attempt to keep players as updated as possible. We don't always have an ETA, and any times given - ever - are estimates, our best estimate of when a realm may return to service. Sometimes those are short - about as often the realms actually return sooner than originally expected.

Game Master, Customer Service Forum - In-Game Support

Splosion

< Heavens Fire >

Kirin Tor

7. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 06:00:42 AM PDT

Thanks for replying quickly....like I said before....just frustrated when the server is down. Thanks

Stegg

Scarlet Crusade

8. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 06:01:06 AM PDT

So for the servers that were down for +12 hours on 9/1 and will be down for 3-10+ hours today, I certainly hope every single player that pays for your game is credited with time on their account.

Not realy sure what took 12+ hours to do on maintanence yesturday with those dallas servers being down.

Instance cap certainly wasn't fixed, thats for sure.

Orlyia

Blizzard Poster

9. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 06:02:13 AM PDT

Q u o t e:
So for the servers that were down for +12 hours on 9/1 and will be down for 3-10+ hours today, I certainly hope every single player that pays for your game is credited with time on their account.

Not realy sure what took 12+ hours to do on maintanence yesturday with those dallas servers being down.

Instance cap certainly wasn't fixed, thats for sure.

You didn't read what I wrote did you, Stegg.

Game Master, Customer Service Forum - In-Game Support

Sornmyazz

Antonidas

10. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 06:03:50 AM PDT

I dont expect 100% uptime

what is annoying to me is a certain degree of 'we dont know what we are doing' as a result of the extended maintenance time

it seems like every time there is a patch, it is followed by extended maintenance or a series of restarts or a series of 'world server down' times which implies that the patch was not fully tested before installing on live servers

and since yesterday's extended maintenance was a 'non-patch' day, then it really begs that question: "what was the nature of the problem and why has it carried over to a 2nd day of extended maintenance?

what did they 'fix' that has created 2 days or problems? was it tested before installation?

Holybladê

< El Toro Loco >

Lothar

11. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 06:04:22 AM PDT

yea i agree this is crap, my server has been down in the past 2 days a total of..... about 20 hours...Now i know they usually offer you a free day onto your subscription, but it does effect the instances i do and such, We supposedly have to wait another month or two for the Additional instances can not be launched stuff to be fixed, as they announced at blizzcon....i just hope they can fix this sooner and more efficiently.

Douleur

< Lights of Hope >

Argent Dawn

12. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 06:05:11 AM PDT

*Sets out a bottle of aspirin, for the GMs*

Radigel

< Puggles >

Greymane

13. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 06:05:20 AM PDT

You've got to be kidding me. I read where they are implementing the "updated" version of blizzard wide fixes for instance problems. After reading thru it, it basically says we moved stuff around but were still not going to "rent" more space, we'll just shuffle stuff around. 2 days of maintanance is just rediculous there are so many ways to avoid any maintanance interruptions but the fixing of instances server they are doing is another example of how blizzard can get away with this stuff and ppl just think it's no big deal. I think it's time for a new game. It's amazing how a new ex-pack has been announced with all the problems with the current expansion. I know alot of stuff goes on behind the scenes, but dont forget who pays the bills.

Stegg

Scarlet Crusade

14. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 06:14:36 AM PDT

Q u o t e:

You didn't read what I wrote did you, Stegg.

I did. You do like most GMs do, you give a brief over view of what we're discussing and really say the same thing we've been complaining about for 5 years of maintanence.

Everyone understands that our $15 isn't worth as much to Blizzard, as it is to us. With downtime in consideration, players have to deal with laggy servers, INSTANCE CAPS and server queues. While all this may been in the agreement we sign, it just farther devalues our $15 a month.

99.9% of the player base would not care about your games down time if we paid by the hour, instead of by the month. But it's plainly obvious why we pay $15 a month.

Simply stating that you don't have to reimburse the player base for it's time really is a slap in the face. Not only are we dealing with server problems that effect any high pop server, we also have to deal with down time that apparently doesn't merit additional time to the payin customers.

But again, why bother typing all this when I agree to give my money to Blizzard for such service?

I spent over an hour at 12am server time (1am EST) trying to zone into Zul' Gurub last night. Since Blizzard added some sort of "instance priority", we were unable to zone into ZG, (wasn't one person in ZG mind you) for over an hour, while instances in outland and northrend were not effected by this problem.

Orlyia

Blizzard Poster

16. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 06:16:32 AM PDT

That is all part of what's being worked on Stegg.

Hence, the unavoidable part.

Game Master, Customer Service Forum - In-Game Support

Somnus

< Fallout >

Thunderhorn

17. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 06:17:52 AM PDT

I definitely agree that the server issues need to be fixed. While I agree, I find it entirely frustating that it takes days to do it. I would have thought that the changes and the downtime could have been thought out a bit more carefully, instead of' "Sorry, but there is still a problem. We'll let you know". What about the items that we have had in the auction house for the last two days? Does Blizzard plan on refunding our gold that was put down for a deposit? Seems to me they should since we paid for the right to post the items for a set amount of time.

Sornmyazz

Antonidas

18. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 06:21:03 AM PDT

Q u o t e:
That is all part of what's being worked on Stegg.

Hence, the unavoidable part.

no!

all of this could have been prevented if your programmers and design leads used proactive methods in system design versus being reactive to what they create, and everything was passed thru QA before release to live servers, etc

and...

there was a list put out last week or the week before of about 140 servers on which the instance problem was supposedly fixed

I dont recall 2 days of maintenance being required to fix those servers

so whats different about these servers?

Stegg

Scarlet Crusade

19. Re: Server Shutdowns 09/02/2009 06:22:24 AM PDT

Q u o t e:
That is all part of what's being worked on Stegg.

Hence, the unavoidable part.

As someone whos played WoW for 5 years, I understand the need for maintanence and that it can run longer than expected.

But I don't appreciate Blizzard telling us they don't have to reimburse the paying customers for such an unusually long downtime.

You don't have to reimburse us, but why the hell wouldn't you? Why do you have to remind us that we really don't matter in the game that we sign an agreement to play and pay you for?

Sure you don't have to reimburse me for the time I was unable to play WoW, for missing two hours of raid time when my guild only raids 3 nights a week, being unable to zone into a low level instance while it's no where near peak hours. You don't have to, but your player base certainly doesn't appreciate that kind of service.

CUSTOMER SERVICE FORUM